On the ship to the exam, Gon and Leorio meet Kurapika. The captain asks each for their reason to be a Hunter. Gon wants to find his father, Leorio wants to be rich, and Kurapika wants to be a force for justice.

Tonpa has placed Leorio and another examinee near hallucinogenic sap. In a dream state, he explains that he wants to be a Hunter to get money so he can become a doctor who doesn't charge for his services. Gon and Killua bond. At the end of the first stage, a man appears to accuse the examiner of being a fake.

The protagonists and others have passed the second stage, and they fly towards the next stage on a blimp. Anita, a girl who failed the earlier test, sneaks aboard to get revenge on Killua for the death of her father. The Hunters capture her, and Chairman Netero offers to free her if Gon and Killua can take a ball from him.

The objective of stage 3 is to get down from a tower alive. The group is forced to team up with Tonpa, and their test is to win 3 out of 5 matches against tower prisoners. Tonpa takes the first match with a hardened-looking criminal, and promptly gives up. He explains that he doesn't want to be a Hunter, he just likes watching others fail and be killed.

The last test to get out of the tower has two paths: one is too long and the other will only allow three of the five to enter. Leorio and Tonpa start fighting to see who will stay, when Gon thinks outside the box. They choose the longer path, destroy the wall between the paths with axes provided so they could fight, and all five make it.

Gon stalks Hisoka, and observes Hisoka's friend transform into his real appearance. Then Hisoka decides to hunt other participants for two more points.

The next fight is between Hanzo and Gon. Although Gon tries his hardest to combat Hanzo, it is obvious he is no match for the ninja. Hanzo severely injures Gon and breaks his arm, but Gon will not admit defeat. Gon feels that if he is ever to find his father, he must pass the Hunter Exam now.

The group meets a butlers' apprentice while walking closer to their target. She has Killua's skateboard, and refuses to let them pass. Repeatedly Gon walks over a line she drew, and each time she sends him flying with her mace. Eventually, she explains that she is Canary, a servant of Killua. Canary tells her Killua gave the skateboard to her because they're friends, so she should let Killua's other friends pass. She lets them pass, but is immediately hit by an unknown projectile.

Gon, Killua and Leorio arrive at a place where Nobunaga and Machi pretend to be a couple sitting in a cafe, but they do not attack understanding that they are not strong enough. Leorio, who is unable to use Zetsu to hide his aura, returns home, but Gon and Killua try to follow them and are captured instead. Light Nostrade arrives, giving orders to Neon, Kurapika and others. Mafia hires several professional assassins, including Silva and Zeno from the Zoldyck family.

Zeno and Silva injure Chrollo, but do not finish him off because of the call from Illumi who manages to kill the mafia dons. Having no client, the professional assassins have no reason to fight and just leave. Fake bodies of Chrollo and all other Phantom Troupe members are found, calming the mafia community, and the auction takes place as planned. Kurapika calms down a bit and meets with Gon, Killua and Leorio. In the last seconds of the episode Hisoka sends a text message to Kurapika telling him the corpses are fake.